Chapter-2

(Gauss's Law and its

Applications)

Flux of the electric field: Flux is the property of any vector field
and is usually denoted by the symbol φ. It refers to a
hypothetical surface in the field which may be closed or
open. For an electric field the flux is φE is measured by the
number of lines of force that cut through such a surface. For
closed surfaces the flux φE is considered positive if the lines of force
point outward everywhere and negative if they point inward.
The concept of electric flux is useful in association with Gauss' law.
The electric flux through a planar area is defined as the electric field
times the component of the area perpendicular to the field as
shown in Fig-1 (a). If the area is not planar, then the evaluation of
the flux generally requires an area integral since the angle will be
continually changing as shown in Fig-1 (b). 1
 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)

Fig-1 (a) Fig-1 (b)

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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)

Gauss’s law: Gauss's law was suggested by Kark Fredrich

Gauss (1777-1855) who was German scientist and
mathematecian. Gauss's law is basically the relation between
the charge distributions producing the electrostatic field to the
behavior of electrostatic field in space. Gauss's law is based
on the fact that flux through any closed surface is a measure
of total amount of charge inside that surface and any charge
outside that surface would not contribute anything to the total
flux.
The total electric flux out of a closed surface is equal to the
charge enclosed divided by the permittivity.
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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)

The electric flux through an area is defined as the

electric field multiplied by the area of the surface
projected in a plane perpendicular to the field.
Gauss's Law is a general law applying to any closed
surface. It is an important tool since it permits the
assessment of the amount of enclosed charge by
mapping the field on a surface outside the charge
distribution. For geometries of sufficient symmetry, it
simplifies the calculation of the electric field.
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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
Gauss' Law, Integral Form: The area integral of the
electric field over any closed surface is equal to the net charge
enclosed in the surface divided by the permittivity of space.
Gauss' law is a form of one of Maxwell's equations,
the four fundamental equations for
electricity and magnetism. Gauss' law
permits the evaluation of the electric
field in many practical situations by
forming a symmetric Gaussian surface
surrounding a charge distribution and
evaluating the electric flux through
that surface.
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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)

Applications of Gauss' Law:

1.Deduction of Coulomb’s law

2.Electric field due to a charged solid sphere
3.Field due to a spherically symmetric charge
distribution (volume distribution of charge)
4.Field due to a line of charge
5.Field due to a uniformly charged plane (sheet of
charge)
6.Field due to infinite charged conducting plate
7.Field due to two parallel charged plates.
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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
(A) Deduction of Coulumb's Law
Coulumb's law can be derived from Gauss's law. We consider
electric field of a single isolated positive charge of magnitude
q as shown Fig-4.
Field of a positive charge is in radially
outward direction everywhere and
magnitude of electric field intensity is
same for all points at a distance r from
the charge. We can assume Gaussian
surface to be a sphere of radius r
enclosing the charge q.
From Gauss's law
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Applications)

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Applications)

(B) Electric field due to line charge

We consider a long thin uniformly charged wire and

we have to find the electric field intensity due to the
wire at any point at perpendicular distance from the
wire. If the wire is very long and we are at point far
away from both its ends then field lines outside the
wire are radial and would lie on a plane perpendicular
to the wire.
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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)

Electric field intensity have same magnitude at all

points which are at same distance from the line
charge. We can assume Gaussian surface to be a right
circular cylinder of radius r and length l with its ends
perpendicular to the wire as shown below in Fig-5. Let
λ is the charge per unit length on the wire. The
direction of E is perpendicular to the wire and
components of E normal to end faces of cylinder
makes no contribution to electric flux. Thus from
Gauss's law
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(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)

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Applications)

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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
From Gauss’ law,

Thus electric field intensity of a

long positively charged wire does
not depend on length of the wire
but on the radial distance r of
points from the wire. 14
 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
(C) Electric field due to charged solid sphere
We'll now apply Gauss's law to find the field outside
uniformly charged solid sphere
of radius R and total charge q.
In this case Gaussian surface
would be a sphere of radius
r>R concentric with the
charged solid sphere shown
below in the figure.

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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
From Gauss’ law,

where q is the charge enclosed.

Charge is distributed uniformly over the surface of the
sphere. Symmetry allows us to extract E out of the
integral sign as magnitude of electric field intensity is
same for all points at distance r>R. Since electric field
points radially outwards we have

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(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)

Thus, we see that magnitude of field outside

the sphere is exactly the same as it would
have been as if all the charge were
concentrated at its center. 17
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(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
(D) Electric field due to an infinite plane sheet of charge
We consider a thin infinite plane sheet of charge having surface
charge density σ(charge per unit area).
We have to find the electric field intensity
due to this sheet at a point which is
distance r away from the sheet.
We can draw a rectangular
Gaussian pillbox extending
equal distance above and
below the plane as shown
in Fig-7.

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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
By symmetry we find that E on either side of sheet must be
perpendicular to the plane of the sheet, having same magnitude
at all points equidistant from the sheet. No field lines crosses the
side walls of the Gaussian pillbox i.e., component of E normal to
walls of pillbox is zero. We now apply Gauss's law to this surface

In this case charge enclosed is

q=σA
where A is the area of end face of Gaussian pillbox.
E points in the direction away from the plane i.e., E points
upwards for points above the plane and downwards for
points below the plane. Thus for top and bottom surfaces,
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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
Here one important thing to
note is that magnitude of
electric field at any point is
independent of the sheet and
does not decrease inversely
with the square of the
distance. Thus electric field
due to an infinite plane sheet
of charge does not falls of at
all.
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 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
Example-1: The magnitude of the average electric field
normally present in the Earth’s atmosphere just above the
surface of the Earth is 150 N/C, directed downward. What is
the total net surface charge carried by the Earth? Assume the
Earth to be a conductor.
Solution: We know that line of forces terminate on negative
charges so that the Earth’s electric field points downward.
Hence the average surface charge density σ must be negative.
Thus from the relation,
E = σ/ε0 or, σ = ε0E = (8.85 × 10-12) (-150)
= -1.33 × 10-9 C/m2.
Now, the Earth’s total charge is given by, q = σ × 4πR2
= -1.33 × 10-9 × 4 × (6.37 × 106)2 = -6.8 × 105 C. 21
 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
Example-2: A plastic rod whose length is 220 cm and
radius is 3.6 mm, carries a negative charge of
magnitude 3.8 × 10-7 C, spread uniformly over its
surface. What is the electric field near the midpoint of
the rod, at a point on its surface?

Solution: Although the rod is not infinitely long, for a point on

its surface and near its midpoint, it may be considered to be
effectively infinitely long.
The linear charge density for the rod is, λ = q/L= -3.8 × 10-7 /
2.2 = -1.73 × 10-7 C/m.
Now, we have E = λ/2πε0 r = -1.73 × 10-7 /(2π × 8.85 × 10-12
× 0.0036) = -8.6 × 105 N/C. 22
 Chapter-2
(Gauss's Law and its
Applications)
Example-3: Two parallel plates of area 20 cm2 each are
separated by a distance of 10 mm. If one plate carries
a charge of +2 × 10-9 C and the other carries a charge
of -2 × 10-9 C, calculate the electric field in the space
between them.
Solution: We know, E = σ/ ε0 = Q/A ε0
= 2 × 10-9 /(20 × 10-4 × 8.85 × 10-12 )
= 1.13 × 105 N/C.

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Thank you all

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